The transportation of a workpiece is a common problem in industrial sewing operations. There are situations where the arrangement of the workpiece must be maintained during the transportation of the workpiece to the sewing operation. When the arrangement is altered, the resulting product could have inaccurate stitching and the sewing operation may have to be repeated or the product may have to be scrapped.
The sewing operation of any garment, e.g., shirts, skirts, pants, benefits from precise transportation of the workpiece, in the desired arrangement, to and through the sewing machines. However, there are many situations where the maintenance of the arrangement of the workpiece is critical. For example, in the production of yoke-back panel assemblies, especially when there is a pleat in the back panel material, it is necessary for the operator to first configure the material in the correct arrangement and then hold the arrangement in place while the material is fed through a sewing machine.
The conventional technology used to sew workpieces involves the use of a single clamp system. After the workpiece has been configured, the materials are clamped in place and the materials are carried through a sewing machine. After the sewing process is complete, the material is released and the clamping mechanism is returned to its initial position to be reloaded. The operator is forced to wait for sewing of the clamped workpiece to finish and for the clamping mechanism to return to the loading position before loading the next material.
This delay causes a loss of potential productive time while the operator waits for the return of the clamping mechanism. The travel time and the time needed to conduct the sewing process constitute an unacceptable loss of time when the operator can only sit and wait for the return of the clamping mechanism.
In particular because of the need for accuracy in the alignment of yoke-back panel materials during the sewing process, especially when there are pleats in the back panel material, it is necessary for the yoke-back panel assembly to be maintained in a consistent alignment from the time the panels are arranged to the time the sewing process is complete. This alignment must also be maintained as the panel materials are passed through the sewing machine at the speed necessary to accomplish the correct type and quality of stitching.
Assembly and other sewing functions also present alignment and transportation problems. Thus, a generally applicable system for securing a first material orientation, and transporting the material to a different location for sewing, has been sought to relieve the operator of continuous hands-on operation.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a fast, accurate, consistent, and relatively simple means of moving and transferring materials from one clamping transporter to another without disturbing the configuration of the materials.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide interacting transfer assemblies to enable an operator to load one assembly while the other is passing a workpiece through a sewing machine.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a system where the transfer mechanisms, while interacting, are capable of operating independently to allow the operator flexibility in timing.